This photo and many other Delano WWII color photos are available, at higher resolution, at the Library of Congress (LOC) web site
The link for this photo is: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa1992000843/PP/

To find it I googled "fsa owi delano bensenville" which took me to the LOC web site. Then I searched for "delano bensenville"

A search at the LOC web site for "jack delano railroad color" returns 236 results. I looked at a few and they are all available for downloading as high res tiffs. The ones I looked at are 100-140 Mbyte files.

Larry Kline
Pittsburgh, PA

Dave Lawler wrote:
Good day all,
I don't know if this has been reviewed before but, it's new to me and thought many in this group would appreciate it.

Cooincidently, a member of our Wednesday night railroad group just sent me a map showing the final realigned route of the C&NW "New Line" over Bensenville Yard and the rearrangements of Irving Park Road and the runways which now parallel the north edge of the yard. Anyone interested in a low-res jpeg of it please contact me off-list as it is off-topic.
Thanks,
Charlie Vlk

Dennis-
I wasn't trying to say that the farmers field immediately north of the yard became O'Hare... although it is today with the incursion of the airport into Bensenville....
Charlie Vlk

Steve Hedlund wrote:
"It's too bad no one is willing to identify the cars in the photos to what
they are."

I'm not unwilling.  It's simply the fact that (a) you never requested IDs and
(b) it's not at the top of my priority list.


Ben Hom

Steve,
 
The 40 ft MILW gons are the Westerfield models.  The 50 foot cars you see in many photos and would be a great car to have a modeled.  A quick look at the 1954 ORER still shows 3200 composite 50ft gons on the MILW roster.
 
Mike Aufderheide

From: S hed <shed999@...>
To: stmfc@...
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 10:47 AM
Subject: RE: [STMFC] Re: Shorpy color Rollong Stock 1943


It's too bad no one is willing to identify the cars in the photos to what they are. Besides the obvious fact that there is a VGN hopper, a Reading box car, a MILW box car, a PRR box car, a MP box car and a NADX refrigerator car. And a beautiful looking MILW box car that is in the background (7xxxxx series) and it is in front of two Sinclair tank cars. Also no one has mentioned the string of Milwaukee Road coal gondolas behind the front row. Especially that unusually long gondola that is second from the left.
- Steve H.To: STMFC@...
From: destorzek@...
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 04:24:15 +0000
Subject: [STMFC] Re: Shorpy color Rollong Stock  1943






















 


   
     
     
     



--- In STMFC@..., "cvlk" <cvlk@...> wrote:

Ooops!  I see it is the Milwaukee Road's Bensenville Yard.  If the view is to the north then yes, O'Hare is now there.... I think you can see hangers below the horizon which would be the Douglas aircraft plant which was the nucelus for the military field that gave birth to O'Hare.

Charlie Vlk

Actually not... O'Hare never came south of Irving Park Road, although that road was relocated around the south edge of the property that did become O'Hare. That's not the road that shows by the farmer's barn... If you look in the mid distance in the photo, you'll see the straight line of the top of a railroad embankment. That's the C&NW freight line running north from Proviso Yard; the old freight line, before it was relocated further west to the edge of the airport. Just about smack dab in the middle of the frame is a dark area on that embankment, which is the bridge over the old alignment of Irving Park Road, the bridge that became Chicago's own "bridge to nowhere" for a generation or two as both the railroad above it and the road that went under it had been relocated, and the bridge stood like a forlorn sentinel at the western edge of the airport, visible from Irving Park where it curved north back to its original alignment. That means we are west of
the C&NW, west of the MILW RIP track complex, and the land north of the tracks developed as an industrial park after WWII, until it was condemned for airport expansion in the last year or two.



But I do agree with Charlie that that is Orchard Field in the distance.



Dennis





   
   

   
   






                         

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

Steve-

With the ORERs available on the web and all the other resources available anyone that is interested in more detail on identifying the cars should be able to do it with not too much effort.... especially if one has the need for the information.

Charlie Vlk

&#92;> It's too bad no one is willing to identify the cars in the photos to what they are.

And the express reefer, seemingly painted green, between two freight reefers with at least one hatch open (look behind the Burlington box).

Ron Merrick

Wonderful shot, especially useful for weathering the roofs of steam era house cars.
Marty McGuirk

It's too bad no one is willing to identify the cars in the photos to what they are. Besides the obvious fact that there is a VGN hopper, a Reading box car, a MILW box car, a PRR box car, a MP box car and a NADX refrigerator car. And a beautiful looking MILW box car that is in the background (7xxxxx series) and it is in front of two Sinclair tank cars. Also no one has mentioned the string of Milwaukee Road coal gondolas behind the front row. Especially that unusually long gondola that is second from the left.
- Steve H.To: STMFC@...
From: destorzek@...
Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 04:24:15 +0000
Subject: [STMFC] Re: Shorpy color Rollong Stock 1943
































--- In STMFC@..., "cvlk" <cvlk@...> wrote:

Ooops! I see it is the Milwaukee Road's Bensenville Yard. If the view is to the north then yes, O'Hare is now there.... I think you can see hangers below the horizon which would be the Douglas aircraft plant which was the nucelus for the military field that gave birth to O'Hare.

Charlie Vlk

Actually not... O'Hare never came south of Irving Park Road, although that road was relocated around the south edge of the property that did become O'Hare. That's not the road that shows by the farmer's barn... If you look in the mid distance in the photo, you'll see the straight line of the top of a railroad embankment. That's the C&NW freight line running north from Proviso Yard; the old freight line, before it was relocated further west to the edge of the airport. Just about smack dab in the middle of the frame is a dark area on that embankment, which is the bridge over the old alignment of Irving Park Road, the bridge that became Chicago's own "bridge to nowhere" for a generation or two as both the railroad above it and the road that went under it had been relocated, and the bridge stood like a forlorn sentinel at the western edge of the airport, visible from Irving Park where it curved north back to its original alignment. That means we are west of the C&NW, west of the MILW RIP track complex, and the land north of the tracks developed as an industrial park after WWII, until it was condemned for airport expansion in the last year or two.



But I do agree with Charlie that that is Orchard Field in the distance.



Dennis


















[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Dave...

     W-O-W!!! What a great find. It has many weathering ideas. Many, many thanks for sharing this photo with the Group!

  Steve Vallee

--- In STMFC@..., "cvlk" <cvlk@...> wrote:

Ooops! I see it is the Milwaukee Road's Bensenville Yard. If the view is to the north then yes, O'Hare is now there.... I think you can see hangers below the horizon which would be the Douglas aircraft plant which was the nucelus for the military field that gave birth to O'Hare.
Charlie Vlk

Actually not... O'Hare never came south of Irving Park Road, although that road was relocated around the south edge of the property that did become O'Hare. That's not the road that shows by the farmer's barn... If you look in the mid distance in the photo, you'll see the straight line of the top of a railroad embankment. That's the C&NW freight line running north from Proviso Yard; the old freight line, before it was relocated further west to the edge of the airport. Just about smack dab in the middle of the frame is a dark area on that embankment, which is the bridge over the old alignment of Irving Park Road, the bridge that became Chicago's own "bridge to nowhere" for a generation or two as both the railroad above it and the road that went under it had been relocated, and the bridge stood like a forlorn sentinel at the western edge of the airport, visible from Irving Park where it curved north back to its original alignment. That means we are west of the C&NW, west of the MILW RIP track complex, and the land north of the tracks developed as an industrial park after WWII, until it was condemned for airport expansion in the last year or two.

But I do agree with Charlie that that is Orchard Field in the distance.

Dennis

Ooops! I see it is the Milwaukee Road's Bensenville Yard. If the view is to the north then yes, O'Hare is now there.... I think you can see hangers below the horizon which would be the Douglas aircraft plant which was the nucelus for the military field that gave birth to O'Hare.
Charlie Vlk


If the photo you are referencing is the C&NW yard, the field in back isn't O'Hare. The Milwaukee Road Bensenville yard is to the south of O'Hare and the Soo Line Schiller Park yard is to the East. The Soo / Wiconsin Central / Chicago & Northern Pacific once had an Orchard station north of the yard which survives today as ORD on your airline tickets!
Charlie Vlk

Al Brown wrote:

... Delano's pictures are always interesting. ... the NADX reefer

leased to Superior Packing (look how tall it is!).

http://www.shorpy.com/node/6969?size=_original

Al,

It is sort of an illusion as the car is no taller than the MP ARA 1932
box car next to it. The car does have very deep side sills making the
actual side sheathing "tall" Note the sill steps are closer to the top
of the rails than the adjacent cars. I recall there was an old Silver
Streak reefer kit of this design.

Bob Witt

If the photo you are referencing is the C&NW yard, the field in back isn't O'Hare. The Milwaukee Road Bensenville yard is to the south of O'Hare and the Soo Line Schiller Park yard is to the East. The Soo / Wiconsin Central / Chicago & Northern Pacific once had an Orchard station north of the yard which survives today as ORD on your airline tickets!
Charlie Vlk

I think I've seen that before -- IIRC the field in back is now part of O'Hare? -- but Delano's pictures are always interesting. This time my eye was caught by two short cars: the NC&StL Fowler box (with the black "Dixie Line" herald), and the NADX reefer leased to Superior Packing (look how tall it is!).

Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.

Good day all,
I don’t know if this has been reviewed before but, it’s new to me and I thought many in this group would appreciate it.
Best regards,
Dave Lawler
Avon Lake, Ohio
http://www.shorpy.com/node/6969?size=_original